Under One Condition
by scaredfox
Summary: Katherine is offered another chance after her death, to live as both a vampire and a human, but under one condition: she must spend this life fighting for the 'greater good', whatever the hell the Voice meant by that. How bothersome.
1. I

_"I'm Katherine Pierce. I'm a survivor." — Katherine Pierce_

* * *

The first thing Katherine realised after dying was that _this_ , wherever the hell 'this' was, was _not_ what everyone else said followed. It wasn't the accursed 'other side', where she was trapped as a ghost alone watching everyone alive around her. Even if no longer a vampire, she was still a doppelganger, and a traveller by blood, so she was sure that was where she should've ended up. But, alas, she did not. _Hurrah_!

Perhaps that was a good thing. Katherine really didn't want to be stuck in some everlasting purgatory that would slowly drive her insane—she at least wanted someone to hear all the snide comments she'd make about the 'Mystic Falls gang', but she wouldn't have even had that on the other side.

Well, except for Bonnie. But that wasn't much better either.

Regardless, Katherine Pierce had absolutely no idea where she was.

It was all just _white_. White nothingness, to be precise.

And she was sure white was supposed to mean heaven. Which made no sense to Katherine, since she was also pretty sure she wasn't exactly worthy of heaven. And she was more than prepared to make herself comfortable in hell; it may have been her narcissism speaking, but she was sure the devil would've adored her.

However, despite the overwhelming and blinding whiteness that engulfed her, there were no other signs that this, whatever it was, was heaven. There was no reunion with her dead family, or angels, or _anything_. No golden gates and singing. Just silent, empty _white_. It was obscure and suffocating.

That was, until a voice boomed around the empty white space.

" _Katerina_." She jumped at the voice, and began to search frantically for a source, but was only met with the same barren surroundings of before. "Do not try search for me," the voice spoke again, "I have no physical form."

 _No physical form?_ Katherine thought. "So, are you God, or something? Surely you can just…manifest a physical form." She said, flailing her arms about. "What even is this, anyway? Is this my 'judgement'—the whole reviewing my soul and deciding whether I go to heaven or hell thing?"

"It will be if you don't stop talking." The voice said in a sass that Katherine didn't imagine it could muster. She released a sardonic laugh but didn't say anything. If this really was some god-like entity that had control over something such as which afterlife she could reside in, she needed to be careful. Better to not overstep her boundaries. Katherine was cunning, but she knew better than to try and manipulate whatever this was. She knew better than to potentially anger it.

"You were brought here, Katerina Petrova, so you could be given another chance."

Katherine raised her eyebrows, her attention caught once more. She couldn't help but smile a devilish grin at the thought of her, the ever-elusive Katherine Pierce, evading death yet again.

"But," The voice began again, and the Katherine let out a groan; 'buts' were never good, "there are some…conditions." _Conditions?_

"Alright, lay 'em on me."

"The world you are being given another chance in isn't your own." And Katherine was bemused once again, but before even given the chance to interject, it continued. "It's a parallel universe. An alternate version of earth, which there are many of. I have chosen this one specifically, however."

That alone was enough to throw Katherine. She was used to the supernatural—she was used to witches and werewolves and vampires and doppelgangers and travellers—but she had no idea how to process that. She had no idea how to process that their earth, their _universe_ , wasn't the only one. She simply thought it was a stupid theory that comic book nerds and weird scientists believed in. Yet, here she was, in some mystical realm, being told there are _multiple_. To say Katherine was rendered speechless would be an understatement.

"The universe I've chosen for you has no witches or vampires like you—" The Voice paused, "—At least, it's without any of the supernatural elements you are familiar with."

"So, in other words, it's boring?" The Petrova cringed at the idea. What a dull existence that would be. She'd rather just be dead than live some 'wholesome and meaningful' existence as a human. She had experienced more as a vampire, and she would never go back to that.

"Not quite."

"Then—"

"You'll figure it out once you arrive. However, as I said, there are conditions. You will not simply live this life as you wish. I will give you perks; you can have all the benefits of being a vampire—the strength, the speed, not aging, the blood, the healing, the compulsion and the arguable _immortality_ —but you will be stripped of your ability to turn others into vampires, and those creepy eyes that you get when you feed." The voice paused for a moment, unnerving Katherine. "But, I suggest you don't feed."

Katherine dryly swallowed any remaining saliva in her mouth, which she wasn't entirely sure how she did in this place, but she wasn't going to ponder. She took more than a moment to respond, trying to understand what the voice meant, but to no avail.

"Why?"

"You have the option to live as a human, to some extent. You can live on human food, and you won't burn in the sun. But, this will not be a selfish existence, Katerina Petrova. There is a greater good to fight for in this universe, one which you'll figure out on your own, and that is what you'll fight for. You can have all these benefits, Katerina, but under the condition you live this life for others—not just yourself. Think of this as your chance for redemption."

She wasn't quite sure exactly how to respond, or even if she would be capable of everything the voice, which is what she had now decided to dub it. Katherine was inherently selfish. She had to be; he was on the run from Klaus for 500 years, it was a means of survival. She didn't believe it to be a bad trait, but a necessity. Little selfless girls like Elena got hurt, and Katherine wasn't about to get hurt.

She was the myth, the legend, the baddest bitch of all. She was conceited, and manipulative, and sassy, and insensitive, and _oh-so_ selfish. She was Katherine Pierce. Self-preservation was kind of her thing. Yet, here she was, being told she couldn't be selfish. She had to, quote-unquote, _live for others_. Yawn.

"And if I _don't_?"

"You age." The voice almost interrupted. "You burn in the sun. You lose your ability to regenerate. You lose your ability to compel. You lose all the good things really, which will, inevitably, lead to your death. And, since you pride yourself with your ability to evade death given all odds, I'm sure you'll comply."

Well, the voice had her there.

"Oh, and, one last thing. You may choose to age as humans do, if you wish."

She let out one last laugh before the room went black.

 _As if._

* * *

 **Kind of a 'cringey' chapter in some ways, but hopefully the rest of the story will be better?**

 **God, this is my fourth story where somebody gets reborn or put into another world. But, I had this concept, and I adore Katherine, so I simply had to write it.**

 **I actually don't know what happens to Katherine after she dies—I've hardly even watched her death scene, since I'm only on episode 10 of season 5. I know she comes back in Season 8 and all, but I really couldn't care less about that. I'm just going to write this story, rest of the TVD storyline be damned.**

 **Anyway, I want a shipping at the side, but I'm not sure who with. My highest contender is currently Natasha, but also maybe Bucky or Steve. Not Tony, though. I don't know. Leave me your thoughts. I haven't written a GxG story yet though, so it would be a nice change.**


	2. II

_"She's Katherine! She loves to play games, and you're fooling yourself if you think you're going to find out what she's up to before she wants you to know." — Damon Salvatore_

* * *

 **Manhattan, New York  
March 2nd 2012**

Katherine didn't wake up in the most graceful way possible. It was in a smelly alleyway of New York in late 2011 in which she found herself alive again, but nobody saw her, so it didn't matter particularly much. She was just sure 'the Voice' was trying to be spiteful, or just had a very cruel sense of humour.

She was quick to find herself a large studio apartment (free of rent, thanks to the beauty of compulsion) in the few months she had been here, as well as a brand new closet (compulsion again, but she didn't have a job or any means of income, in her defence) and was living quite comfortably. Luckily, all her favourite brands remained, and she may or may not have had a closet filled purely with designer heels and boots, but, hey, it was a necessity. The Voice couldn't get too angry with her! She hadn't started burning in the sun yet, so obviously she was still in the clear.

She quickly learnt the way this world was different from hers through extensive amounts of research. On the surface, they were pretty much the same. Same geography, with some exceptions here and there, same laws, same countries as far as she could tell, and the same history. Well, kind of. It was different in some miniscule, but still pretty fundamental ways.

For instance, Mystic falls didn't even exist. What a relief.

And, apparently a rather integral part of this version of America's victory in the Second World War was some sort of super soldier by the name 'Captain America', who definitely never existed in her version of reality. If he had, Katherine was more than sure she would've found a way to toy with him, if the pictures were anything to go by. It was a bit of a cliché name if you asked Katherine, but she supposed Americans always did pride themselves with their patriotism. He made up for it with his body and face, though. It was a shame she was brought into this era instead.

Also, HYDRA, a science division under the Nazis, definitely did not exist in her life. There were still Nazis that did messed up experiments and stuff, but not these HYDRA people. She would've known—she was very actively trying to keep on top what was going on during World War Two. Mainly so that she could stay out of any active war grounds or high risk areas (Katherine did _not_ want to know what a bomb would do to her body) but also so that she could do some infiltration here and there. Because, even the largest scale war to occur amongst humans was a game to Katherine, just like everything else. She did liberate a holocaust train full of Jews this one time, but she never told anyone that. It seemed to human an action to do—it actually showed that she, Katherine Pierce, may have actually cared for a life other than her own, and she wasn't actively trying to make people believe ( _know_ ) that.

She had been brushing up on her history—so what? A girl needed to know the differences after being alive for 500 years. She didn't want all her experience to be for nothing.

Also, a very notable figure who happened to keep turning up on the news—which she had been watching religiously, but she would never admit that to anybody else—was a man by the name Tony Stark. A billionaire who flew about in a red iron suit. It wasn't actually made out of iron, apparently, which she had found out in one of his numerous interviews (which Katherine had watched a whole lot of, but she would also never admit that). She liked to call him the tin man more than anything.

He was also the owner of that obnoxiously large building in the middle of the city: Stark Tower. That certainly didn't exist in her version of her reality. Part of her felt compelled to compel him, just for the sheer fun of it, but she decided against it. The whole 'being good' thing kind of got in the way.

She wasn't even entirely sure what the 'greater good' _was_. The only thing she had seen was some huge, green guy—the hulk, or something—that had caused a lot of destruction, but he didn't seem to be causing any problems right now and she wasn't exactly rushing to fight him. Vampire or not, she wasn't even entirely sure she could take him on. From the videos she saw, he was quite…strong. And could potentially actually kill her. Living for the greater good or not, Katherine actually wanted to _live_.

Whatever did constitute this greater good, she hoped that the cat she saved the other day off the street was a part of it.

She hated the thing. She had been fooled by its cuteness, and it was all willing to be nice when she took it to the vet and fed it and let it stay in her home, but the thing turned feral when it was in her home. It hissed at her all the time, and only ever showed an ounce of kindness when it wanted food. It was a deceptive little thing, and, no, she didn't see a reflection of her own behaviour in it. The cat, which she had named Lucifer, was not cute. Katherine, however, _was_.

It was weird, knowing she was a vampire in some ways but a human in others. She wasn't exactly dead; she could hear her heartbeat, and she could feel herself breathe and there was blood pumping through her veins, not just sitting in them,but she didn't age. Her physical appearance didn't change at all. She had dragged a knife across her arm just to make sure she could still heal (since she had tested everything the Voice said she still had, just out of precaution) and, in 30 seconds, the wound was gone. As always.

She honestly missed being able to kill people. Feeding, too. She was currently living solely off junk food—the addictive packets off trash—but, hey, she was a vampire. She couldn't gain weight. She would be blessed with her gorgeous body no matter what.

Even if the food was substantial enough for her, however, she couldn't get rid of the bloodlust. It was nowhere near as strong as it once had been, but it still remained like an itch at the back of her throat that she simply couldn't get rid of. It was aggravating, really. Surely, if she fed on little amounts of blood and didn't kill anybody and simply compelled them to forget, she'd be in the clear? Would getting rid of that incessant itch at the back of her throat be considered selfish and worthy of losing her ability to go out into the sun? Katherine didn't know.

This world really was only different in its absence of all the supernatural creatures of her world and the fact science was more advanced, creating all these weird superhero-esque people.

Billionaire in a flying metal suit.

Not weird at all.

However, all the research was starting to bore Katherine to death. She had been here for a whole five months, and she had yet to do anything even remotely fun. But, tonight, Katherine had plans on changing that. She was currently on her way to buy a new pair of straighteners since, as much as she liked her curly hair better and wasn't particularly that fond of looking like Elena (even if Katherine was cuter than her with hair un-straightened or straightened) she also craved a bit of change every once in a while. Even if it was one that went away by simply washing her hair.

New York was a perfect environment for her, even if she didn't like how the streets smelled or the fact there were _rats_. She knew how to push herself through a crowd, though. She couldn't help but be amused when the ignorant man, usually in a suit and on their phone, walked into her, expecting her to be the one who moved out of the way, but was instead pushed to the side by her—and she loved how they faltered when she'd simply smirk in response. Ring around their finger or not, men just _loved_ falling for her.

She knew she was irresistible, and the Petrova doppelganger used it to her advantage always. If she knew she didn't have to use compulsion, then she didn't. It was much more entertaining knowing men willingly drooling over her, and their bemusement when she was able to drink herself through three bottles of yet remained sober enough to not be persuaded into going home with them was _particularly_ amusing.

She was pretty sure she'd beat anyone in a drinking competition should the opportunity arise.

Katherine still wasn't entirely sure how this whole human-vampire thing worked though. She had the same alcohol tolerance she had as a vampire, regardless of the fact her body, more or less, worked in the same way a human's did. She didn't know whether she could get pregnant, or anything. She still didn't get her period, but she wasn't entirely ruling out the chance that potentially one day she could somehow become pregnant.

She'd be careful, she noted dully. She had been an awful mother to Nadia, and she had to live with that guilt, and it almost felt wrong to have another child—even if it was 500 years later and in an alternate version of earth. And, besides, she didn't really want to deal with a crying ball of snot. She was responsibility free, and a dependent baby wasn't about to ruin that.

But, at the same time, Katherine was someone who enjoyed a little bit of sexy times, and there was nothing wrong with precaution, so she figured there was no harm picking up some contraceptive pills on the way to purchase her new hair iron. Again, she didn't even think she could get pregnant, but she didn't put it past the Voice to have a sick sense of humour. He gave her the option to age, so she couldn't see why he wouldn't give her the option to carry around little humans.

Regardless, it was finally her time to go out and have some fun tonight—she heard Stark was throwing yet another one of his infamous parties, and she was never one to really care for an invite.

* * *

Looking at her freshly straightened her, Katherine grinned at her reflection. She was _definitely_ cuter than Elena.

She couldn't understand why Stefan picked her instead—he was just trying to compensate for his loss of her. He loved her, even if he never cared to admit it. And Damon spent over a century obsessed with her, so that one kind of answered itself.

Maybe she was damning all her romances being attracted to the 'good guys', though. If Elijah and Stefan counted as good guys, that was. Neither of them seemed to be particularly fond of her tricks. Elijah always looked so _hurt_ , as if he didn't know that was what she was like. _Every time_. She did love him though, and he wasabsolutely gorgeous to look at (like, serious eye candy, especially with those suits) but perhaps they just weren't compatible. He never seemed to believe her sincerity, but she supposed that was her fault.

It didn't matter now. There was no Elijah or Stefan. No Klaus or Silas or travellers or witches. Just, her.

Probably the most powerful 'human' in existence.

(Besides the green guy.)

Deep red lipstick applied, Katherine kissed the mirror of her vanity, leaving a print of her lips she knew she'd have no fun scrubbing off the next morning. The outfits she wore in this world won't too far off what she wore in her last, particularly given the decade it was. She knew the Stark's parties tended to be extravagant, so she settled for a black mini bodycon dress—not too mini, though, since she was classy, not trashy. But she made sure it was short enough to get some attention.

The outfit was finished with a pair of dark red platform heels (since Katherine was a sucker for matching) and a short black jacket which she's be sure to ditch at the door. It hid her figure, and that was exactly what she was trying to accentuate. But, New York wasn't the warmest at night in early spring, and as much as she wasn't exactly bothered by the cold she was sure it would look odd to the average bystander, and she didn't exactly want to attract any _unwanted_ attention.

Aware of the quickly passing time, Katherine made her way out of her door, and on to the streets of Manhattan, ignoring the hiss of the cat as she walked past its bed. New York was a beautiful thing at night, really. But, she wasn't there to sightsee, so she allowed her vamp speed to carry her to the tower in the swift two minutes that it took.

"Invitation, please." One of the guard's at the door spoke, holding his arm in front of the tower doors as she attempted to enter. Katherine couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"You're going to let me in and you're going to tell me which floor the party is on." She said perhaps a little too commandingly, despite knowing that her compulsion would work regardless. "If anyone asks, I had an invitation." Almost mindlessly, the man retracted his arm, his eyes staring blankly at her.

"Tenth floor, Miss."

She gave a wry smile in thanks, and walked through the door. The lobby of Stark Tower was rather lifeless, the only figures occupying the floor being the people at the front desk as well as the odd security guard scattered around the floor. The only sound that filled the room was the sound of her heels echoing, but that was soon fixed when she entered the elevator. The closer she came to the tenth floor where Mr. Stark's party was being held, the louder the music got, until the elevator came to a halt and the doors opened—because then music was _blaring_.

Throwing her jacket onto the first coat hanger she saw, Katherine waltzed in and headed straight for the bar, an air of confidence radiating as she did so. Katherine was usually a vodka or whiskey type of person, but tonight she was in the mood for some cognac.

"Courvoisier, please." She asked the bartender, who gave her a quick nod and grabbed one of the various bottles of alcohol that were sitting on the shelves behind him, and began to pour her a glass.

"And you are?" A voice spoke next to her, and the Petrova stiffened, immediately recognising it from the _extensive_ amount of interviews she had watched.

"Katherine." She spoke, taking the glass from the bartender. "Katherine Pierce."

"Huh," She felt him eyeing her up and down, but couldn't seem to bring herself to face him (no, her heart wasn't beating faster and _no_ she was not nervous and somewhat star-struck, as that was impossible) "Is that with a C or with a K, Katherine? Because, I'm pretty sure I've never seen you before. And, I'm pretty sure your name was not on the guest list."

"It's with a K. And, I'm a plus one." She brought her eyes to meet his. "Whose, isn't important. Besides,"—she eyed the rest of the room—"this doesn't exactly look like a V.I.P only type of party. The smell of vomit coming from the general direction of the bathrooms seems to suggest that much."

"Well," he laughed, taking a sip from his own glass, which smelled like rum, "you got me there."

"So, can I ask," She began, her nervousness slipping away a bit, "why is a billionaire like yourself flying around in a homemade metal suit?"

"Haven't you heard? I'm the man who successfully privatised world peace."

Katherine didn't miss the underlying smugness in his tone. "Oh, I've heard. That was rather impressive, actually, pissing off the senator like that and making him curse on live television—and in such an official setting, too. And, hacking the monitor? That was a bold move, Mr. Stark. Very amusing."

"Oh, I know. I specifically requested for Senator Stern to be the one who presented me and my buddy Rhodes with the medals for, y'know, that whole fiasco Justin Hammer that went down last year—I'm sure you know which one it was all over the news—and his annoyance was thoroughly, thoroughly entertaining."

Katherine couldn't help but laugh, mentally noting the similarities in both hers and Tony's personalities. It was a rather comforting, actually. Tony laughed along with her, swigging his drink around in its glass while Katherine took yet another sip. "Hm, so, what was your name again? Katie?"

"I'm offended that you forgot so fast, Mr. Stark!" She feigned shock, a pretend look of hurt taking place on her face as she put a hand over her chest. "And here I thought I was making a good impression."

"No, trust me, you are." He finished his drink. "That's why I'm asking again."

A satisfied smirk formed on the Petrova's face. "It's Katherine Pierce."

"Katherine, huh." He mumbled. "Well, I hope you have a good night, Miss Pierce—Miss _is_ correct, right?"

"I'm far too young to be married, Mr. Stark."

 _Or far too old,_ she thought wryly, _500 years too old._

"Well, you'd be surprised these days."

She watched with satisfaction as Tony walked away, knowing she had made a good, and hopefully lasting, first impression. She could tell from the way Tony watched her that he found her physically attractive (500 years of being around men trained you in these things, and men were ridiculously easy creatures to read—that, and the fact she was Katherine Pierce, she had hardly ever met men that weren't enticed by her) and she definitely found him attractive also— _very_ attractive—and she definitely would not have minded all that cash that came along with him. However, she knew he was off limits. Had a girlfriend, or something. Pepper Potts. And, as much as she knew she could seduce him both with and without compulsion, she wasn't about to potentially piss off a faceless deity by screwing up someone else's relationship.

However, the thought _was_ tempting. She could easily compel them both so that none of them felt the heartache of breaking up, and then it would mean they'd suffer any negative emotion! And, it wouldn't be all that odd for Tony to have such a younger looking girlfriend. He was a billionaire playboy—why wouldn't he take advantage of that? It was a win-win situation...for Katherine. Since she'd 'win' Tony, and then win by not being selfish and caring for someone else's emotions but her own! But, at the same time, she knew that'd be abusing the privileges the stupid _Voice_ left her with in order to benefit only herself. So, again, selfish. Going against the whole 'not just living her life for herself' thing.

She truly hated this Voice. It was forcing her to be _good_ , and she hated it. She was not a good person, and she didn't want to be. It simply wasn't her.

Time passed quickly, and she mingled with a bunch of people she didn't recognise and had never heard of. Stark and her exchanged a few glances throughout the night, and perhaps she'd been slightly too suggestive with some of her looks, but no one else other than Stark was catching her attention. Well, nearly no one anyway. But the one person who had hadn't caught her attention for any good reasons. Instead, he had been eyeing her the whole night from across the room, and, as much as she knew he couldn't hurt her, it was still somewhat unnerving.

The average girl most likely wouldn't have noticed, but Katherine was hardly an average girl. Her fine-tuned hearing allowed her to keep watch on him without actually staring directly at him, and he had yet to currently move from his position.

She knew she couldn't kill a guy in front of a room of full of people, but that didn't mean she couldn't kill him somewhere private. He was probably a rapist or something anyway—taking him off the face off the earth would do more good than it did harm. That was fighting for the greater good!

Plan in place, she began to make her away from the main part of the floor in which most people had congregated, and instead to one of the empty connecting halls. She heard the pace of his breath begin to increase, and his feet quickly scurrying to catch up with her. She slowed once away from the crowd of party-goers, and leant against one of the corridor walls, drink in hand.

His feet began to slow, until he eventually came to stand next to her. She easily caught onto his trick—he slowed down enough to seem as if he hadn't been following, but just happened to stumble along at the same moment she did.

When he stood across from her, she was finally able to look at him properly. He easily stood over 6ft, and was definitely young. Rather attractive, actually. Most likely would've been her type had he not been a creep all night.

"So, why's a girl like yourself leaving the party so soon?"

"Just needed a breather." She lied.

"That's understandable." He chuckled, and Katherine nearly snarled. "Well, what's your name?"

Her eyes narrowed at him, and the little smirk he wore. For some reason, it made her blood boil. _He_ made her blood boil. "Katherine." She replied curtly. "And you are?"

"Grant." He smiled lightly, and Katherine didn't ignore the flirtatious tone he was attempting.

"Well, Grant, tell me—why was a guy like yourself staring at me the whole night from across the room?"

His smile faltered, and she rolled her eyes, ready to walk away. He really wasn't worth her time, no matter _how_ attractive he may have been. As she went to turn, he grabbed her arm. In that moment, it took everything in Katherine not to turn around and rip his throat out then and there.

He had yet to do anything but wrong, but his very presence was beginning to irk her, for some reason. And, when Katherine's annoyance levels spiked, so did her hunger. And, her bloodlust was suddenly starting to become unbearable.

But Katherine wasn't a woman without control.

"I'm sorry I-I didn't expect you to notice. Truth is, I just get a little nervous around such pretty women."

She relaxed a little, trying to gain control of her ever increasing unease, but then realised her body started to relax a lot more than intended. And more. _And more_.

And that was when she noticed the little prick on her neck.

The guy—Grant, if that was even his real name—had stuck a huge needle in her neck.

And it—whatever _it_ was—was working.

"What did you..." She slurred, unable to continue the words as she dropped into his arms.

Well, this was the most advanced date rape drug she's ever seen.

Before the world around her went black, she was able to catch onto Grant's last words.

 _"We have her, Sir."_

* * *

 **Unknown Location  
March 2nd 2012**

Katherine seemed to be doing a whole lot of this falling asleep in darkness and waking up in a bright place thing recently, because she was sure the light on her face was near blinding her right now. Well, if she could be blinded.

She really hoped whatever that guy had injected her with hadn't killed her and she was in the damn white room again. She really was not in the mood to deal with the Voice again only after two months.

Despite being awake, everything was still hazy. The room around her span, but her returning senses allowed her to discern that she in fact was _not_ in the white room, but instead in some sort of hall—or building or place—that was mainly dark, besides the overwhelmingly bright lamp that shone in her face and the dim glow of the distant orange lights on each of the walls.

Wherever this place was, it was huge.

She absentmindedly noted the cuffs around her wrists which strapped her to the chair she was sat on. As much as she knew she could break them easily, she was smart enough to know not to attempt it in her current state. She needed to understand what was happening to her (as well as why whatever was happening was happening to her) before planning any form of escape. Being able to make out the room properly would be helpful, too.

"I'm impressed. It only took you two hours to wake up. Usually a sedative like that knocks someone out for a solid twenty four hours."

Across from her sat a man of African descent, who was wearing all black. The thing that really caught her attention, however, was the eyepatch that he wore on his left eye. That wasn't menacing. Not at all.

"If you didn't expect me to wake up for a whole day, then why am I cuffed to a chair?" She questioned, annoyance beginning to surge within her. She hated feeling so disorientated and tired as she currently did, and she didn't understand how a human sedative was able to take her out like that. Not unless it contained vervain, and, whatever that stuff was, it felt _nothing_ like vervain.

"Well, we like to take our precautions here. Especially when we believe we're most likely dealing with an _enhanced_ individual."

The word enhanced threw her off, not quite understanding what it meant, or what he meant by it. All she knew was, these people, whoever they were, they were onto her.

"First of all, who is 'we' and where is 'here'?" The man opened his mouth as if to speak, but was quickly interrupted by Katherine. "No, I'm not done yet. Second of all, what do you mean by _enhanced?"_

" _We_ are the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. And, _here?_ Until I can assure your cooperation, that will remained classified. But, I will say, it is a _heavily_ fortified and guarded building."

It was a warning—a warning that she shouldn't try to escape. But Katherine never was one to heed warnings very well.

"Someone really must've wanted that to spell _shield_." She commented dryly.

"I suppose they did."

A moment of silence passed, and the near palpable tension beginning to grow between them was becoming insufferable, prompting Katherine to speak once again. "I know you're meant to be the one doing the interrogation and all, but you didn't answer my question. What do you mean by _enhanced_?"

"Do you mean to tell me you _aren't_ an enhanced individual, Miss Pierce?" He pulled a TV from next to him, which had been blocked by the light in her eyes, and pressed a button on the remote that had been sitting on his thigh. The screen switched on, revealing what seemed to be a paused image from black and white CCTV footage, showing the one and only Katherine.

And this was why she had tended to stay away from cities.

The image zoomed into her face. "This is you, Miss Pierce, is it not?"

"Yes." She said begrudgingly, forcing the words out through her teeth. "How do you know my name anyway?"

"We've been keeping our tabs, Miss Pierce. Ever since these videos"—the TV began to play the recording back—"showed you walking out of not only one, but _every_ store you entered without paying. But not stealing, no. You very clearly go up to the people working in the store and get them to bag your items, but after you stand and talk to them for just a few seconds, they seem to just let you go." Katherine didn't miss his sarcastic tone. "Tell me, is it that pretty face of yours or do you just always know the right thing to say? Because, it was _particularly_ interesting visiting your tenant and discovering that you pay no rent at all, and that your tenant was completely unable to answer as to why that is."

Katherine opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the man, who was now on his feet. "Now, tell me, what is your trick? Telepathy? Mind control? Are you even a human, Miss Pierce? Because, we've dealt with people of other worlds before, and there is a surprising lack of _any_ documentation on you _at all_. No pictures and no names and no files. No records, whatsoever." His words started to become louder, "No one can just appear out of thin air, Miss Pierce."

It was too bad that she actually _did_. But she wasn't about to admit that. She did know what she did need to do, however.

Breaking the cuffs around her wrist, she pulled her arms in front of her, and threw the now ruined piece of metal to the side, as well as the lamp that had been blinding her the entire time. Now able to see clearly, Katherine was able to see the room she was in and, while it was certainly large, it didn't seem heavily fortified or guarded like the man suggested, but instead like an empty warehouse.

"You know, I wish you would've picked a more appropriate night to drug and kidnap me. I mean, look at how I'm dressed—these are my best heals, and I'd really rather not ruin them. And I hope, for your sake and mine, that Stark's party is still going, because you made me leave one of my favourite jackets."

"Miss Pierce, I suggest you sit back down." He commanded, showing no hint of fear in his voice. It was rather impressive really. She stood staring straight down the barrel of his handgun, which he raised as she stood from her seat. Katherine's smile grew wider, more sinister, and she let out a snide laugh.

"Guns don't scare me, big guy. I can knock that out of your hand before you even have a chance to pull the trigger." She stepped forward, allowing the cold metal to meet her forehead.

"Then what about _five_ guns?" He asked, almost exasperated.

"What, you mean your little underlings scattered around the room hidden in the shadows? Oh, I know they're there. I can hear them all. I've _been_ hearing them. I can hear _every_ breath they take. Every blink, and every single one of their muscles contracting. I can even hear their heartbeats speeding up as they listen to my every word. I assume your earpiece is doing all the work, no? Well, I relay this message to both you and them, then; no matter how many guns you have, and no matter how many times you shoot at me, your bullets will have absolutely _no effect_." She nearly whispered the last two words, drawling them out for emphasis.

"If you're suggesting what I think you're suggesting Miss Pierce, then maybe not. But, what we injected you with earlier seemed to have some sort of effect on you, and I'm pretty sure you can't take five people down at once, and all are ready to shoot you with that same injection instead if bullets aren't sufficient. I promise you, you won't find a way out of this."

"Oh, you'd be surprised of what I'm capable of."

"Is that a threat?"

"No. It's more a…'don't underestimate me as I'm not afraid to attack you guys until I know what your intentions are'." She turned her head to the side coyly, putting on an innocent facade. As if to ruin all her fun, however, she recalled the condition of _the Voice._ Irritated by the sudden remembrance of the whole 'greater good' thing, she uttered her next line somewhat embarrassedly, " _Until_ I know whether you're the quote-unquote good guys. Then, I won't hurt you." She ignored the fact her voice turned into a mumble toward the end, her own reluctance getting the best of her. "What was even in that sedative, anyway?"

"It was an extremely strong sedative, Miss Pierce. That's all you need to know. Its contents are irrelevant. Besides, can't be revealing secrets to potential threats now, can I?"

"Like I said, I'm not a threat depending on your intentions."

"What are _your_ intentions, Miss Pierce?"

"I don't really know yet. Maybe put that gun down and I'll be more—what did you call it? Oh, that was it— _cooperative_."

He let out a short laugh. "Funny. But, your status as an enhanced individual means you're a potential threat, and we're here to protect the general public from people who threaten their safety."

 _Protect the general public from people threaten their safety_. "So, you _are_ the 'good' guys?" She asked carefully, making quotations around the word 'good'.

"A subjective term, but yes. That's what we try to be. The 'good guys'."

"And what exactly does your organisation do?"

"Not an organisation, Miss Pierce. Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. We are an extra-governmental military counter-terrorism and intelligence agency, tasked with maintaining global security.

"Hmm, well the fact you're extra-governmental is at least slightly reassuring. I don't trust governments all that much." She sat back down, crossing her legs over each other. "Oh, come on, big guy. Sit back down. There's no way we can have a civil discussion with a gun pointed in my face."

"This is an interrogation, Miss Pierce."

"Well, let's turn it into a little Q and A instead then, shall we? I'd be much more comfortable asking any questions you have that way."

Hesitantly, the man lowered his gun to his side and sat back in his own seat, eyes never leaving Katherine. She decided she'd play along, since she could wipe his mind of anything he learned about her anyway. And, if these were the good guys, maybe this was what she was meant to be doing. She'd have to find out and see.

"So, are you an enhanced individual, Miss Pierce?"

"Yes." She answered.

"And what abilities is it you have?"

"Mind control, as you said earlier. Not telepathy. I can't read people's thoughts or literally get inside their heads. I can, however, make them tell me whatever I want them to, or do whatever I want them to, _hence_ why I don't have to pay for anything! I should've been more careful with that though, I suppose." Katherine let out a small giggle. "Um, as you might've guessed earlier from what I said, I have… _enhanced_ hearing. Uh, also enhanced speed, regenerative healing factor—learnt that one from those nerdy shows—and _that_ is why your guns _won't_ work on me, and I suppose also why your sedative only lasted two hours."

"Is that _all_?" The man asked sarcastically.

"No, actually! I'm also pretty damn strong."

The man let out a sigh, and Katherine couldn't even pretend not to feel smug in that moment.

"So, tell me, where exactly did you gain all these abilities?"

This was where Katherine's most prided trait, her ability to deceive, came into play. She had been lying for centuries, and she was already aware that the best lies were just the truth, but twisted.

"I died, I think." She said, feigning sadness in her voice, her acting skills continuing to be nothing less than exquisite. "But I woke up, and I had these abilities." And this was where the lie began: "It was in a car crash. My parents and I…we were driving, and the car went over a bridge. They drowned, but I managed to get out. I don't know how. Doctors said I was in a coma for weeks, and I woke up with these abilities, and half my memory gone. I assume someone experimented on me, but I don't know who and I don't know where."

She couldn't help but thank Elena for having such a _tragic_ backstory.

"And how old were you when this all happened?"

"Seventeen."

"And how old are you now?"

"Twenty-two." She knew she really only passed for twenty-one at the eldest, but she didn't want to seem too young. Besides, there were actors and actresses in their late twenties that _still_ played teenagers in high school. Surely it wasn't too much of a stretch.

"Well, Miss Pierce, saying this is all true, none of it explains why there are absolutely no records on you whatsoever."

"Katherine isn't my real name." She explained. "I will admit, I did come here illegally. I was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, and that's where I grew up. My real name is Katerina Petrova. I came to America to start a new life about six months ago, which is why I 'appeared out of thin air'."

"You know you just admitted to the man that's head of an agency tasked with maintaining global security that you're an illegal immigrant?"

"Maybe you can help a girl out with that?"

"Maybe I can." He smirked, finally showing some promising emotion to Katherine. "Question is, can you help me?"

Katherine's eyebrows furrowed together as the man stood up and began to walk away. After a few steps, the man turned to face her. "Well, are you coming or _not_?"

Despite her confusion, Katherine got up and began to follow, all the men that had been scattered around the room quickly ran over and followed behind her, guns still in hand. As they reached the end of the warehouse, the man began to speak again. "I, Miss Pierce—"

"Please, call me Katherine. Miss Pierce makes me sound _so old_." She interrupted, stinging out her tongue distastefully.

 _"Katherine._ " He rectified, "I am the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. My name is Nick Fury, but everyone here addresses me as Director Fury."

Once out the door, Fury began to lead Katherine, as well as the five men behind her, through a set of hallways. It seemed the building was more than just an empty warehouse, and Katherine couldn't ignore the military-esque feel the building held. "And you're trusting me with this information _why_?"

"Because, Katherine, you had every opportunity to kill me in that room if you wished to do so if you truly are enhanced in all the ways you said you are, yet you didn't. And since I believe myself to be a reasonable man, I've decided I can bring you somewhere slightly more comfortable to continue this assessment." Katherine didn't ignore the fact he used _assessment_ rather than interrogation. "And you may just be of use to us, Miss Pierce."

"Wait." Katherine stopped in place, and Fury turned to face her. "What do you mean 'of use', because I seriously don't want any experiments being done on me."

"No, not experiments. I'm sure you've been subjected to enough of them to end up with all the abilities you have." He turned and continued to walk, and she was forced to by the men—soldiers?—who remained behind her. "How familiar are you with espionage, Miss Pierce?"

"Are you asking me to be a spy, Director Fury?" She asked, suddenly very intrigued. Even if she couldn't be a notorious vampire in this life, being a spy didn't sound all that bad.

"Not quite, Miss Pierce. But, with the right training and making sure you aren't a threat, that may just become a possibility."

Katherine smirked. It seemed things were finally becoming _very_ interesting.

* * *

 **I've only just started AoS, and I apologise if I characterised Ward wrong! I tried to make their interaction short for that reason.**

 **Thank you for the reviews! I'm aware this story will most likely receive far less follows and favourites than a normal one since this is a very small crossover section, but it's very fun for me to write more than anything. I always appreciate any feedback, and it makes me extremely happy to read.**

 **Lagoone Child: Your suggestion of the Red Room is brilliant, but I had already planned for this to be the storyline. But that's a seriously great idea. Maybe you should write it sometime!**

 **Steve seems to be a favourite, so we'll go with him! To be honest, I'm not as attracted to Steve (so also Chris) as I am Natasha or Bucky (Sebastian Stan is an absolute babe) but after considering it, Steve is a very good option—he's good and kind and all, and I feel that's what Katherine needs. We're currently only two months away from when the events of Avengers happens, so they'll definitely be meeting very soon. Prepare for a slow burn, though. Anyway, leave me your thoughts!**


	3. III

_"Because it's Katherine, and she's smart, and conniving, and sneaky." — Caroline Forbes_

* * *

 _"Mind control, as you said earlier. Not telepathy. I can't read people's thoughts or literally get inside their heads. I can, however, make them tell me whatever I want them to, or do whatever I want them to, hence why I don't have to pay for anything! I should've been more careful with that though, I suppose."_ Katherine let out a small giggle. _"Um, as you might've guessed earlier from what I said, I have…enhanced hearing. Uh, also enhanced speed, regenerative healing factor—learnt that one from those nerdy shows—and that is why your guns won't work on me, and I suppose also why your sedative only lasted two hours."_

Fury was, admittedly, very intrigued. They had come across enhanced personnel before. Hell, even Captain America was out of the ice now, and they had also dealt with Thor, who was literally, to some degree, a God. But even he didn't have all the abilities Katherine had just described.

Mind control. That's how she had been doing everything without paying. That's how she had been doing whatever the hell she wanted. And it was dangerous. _She_ was dangerous. Yet, despite the power she had, and despite what she could achieve with it, she had just been shopping. She had been avoiding rent.

And enhanced hearing. To the point she apparently could hear his men, who were nowhere close by. She could hear them breathing. And that was a skill that made the perfect spy.

And, enhanced speed. To what extent, he wasn't sure. But, again, something that would benefit a spy, an assassin or a soldier alike greatly. And also something which helped her be dangerous—helped her be a threat—and she had been _shopping_. She probably could've taken control of the damn president if she truly wanted to. Fury didn't even know if she realised the full capacity of the things she could do, or of the things she could achieve, yet didn't

And regenerative healing factor, as if the rest wasn't enough. Enough that, supposedly, she'd heal from gun wounds. He needed to find out to what extent it was; if it was to all parts of her body; if it was on a cellular level; if it was only flesh wounds, or also diseases and pathogens—if it could save lives.

And it made her the perfect assassin. It made her the perfect spy.

It made her a perfect candidate.

 _"Is that all?"_ He asked sarcastically.

 _"No, actually! I'm also pretty damn strong."_

Fury let out a sigh, not sure as to whether she was simply adding that to be funny or if she actually also had enhanced strength.

 _"So, tell me, where exactly did you gain all these abilities?"_

Because, he was intrigued. The amount of people turning up with abilities, or who were enhanced or 'super' in some kind of way, was growing at an exponential and worrying rate. She was another example of that, and S.H.I.E.L.D. needed to find out if there was a singular group or organisation—or multiple—directly responsible in enhancing people.

 _"I died, I think._ " She paused. _"But I woke up, and I had these abilities. It was in a car crash. My parents and I…we were driving, and the car went over a bridge. They drowned, but I managed to get out. I don't know how. Doctors said I was in a coma for weeks, and I woke up with these abilities, and half my memory gone. I assume someone experimented on me, but I don't know who and I don't know where."_

She sounded genuine enough, but Fury wasn't a man who didn't take precaution. He'd be using the truth serum soon enough, but it was better to discern whether she was telling them the truth from the beginning, or if she was lying.

 _"And how old were you when this all happened?"_

 _"Seventeen."_

 _"And how old are you now?"_

 _"Twenty-two."_

He was unsure. She looked younger.

 _"Well, Miss Pierce, saying this is all true, none of it explains why there are absolutely no records on you whatsoever."_

 _"Katherine isn't my real name."_ She confessed. _"I will admit, I did come here illegally. I was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, and that's where I grew up. My real name is Katerina Petrova. I came to America to start a new life about six months ago, which is why I 'appeared out of thin air'."_

He noted to look up Katerina Petrova instead, and look through Bulgarian records to see whether he story checked out. Although, it would be significantly harder trying to access foreign records. If her story checked out to be true, that meant S.H.I.E.L.D. needed to invest more of its time and efforts into exploring Eastern Europe; they needed to see if there were other experiments or incidents like this.

 _"You know you just admitted to the man that's head of an agency tasked with maintaining global security that you're an illegal immigrant?"_

But that was reassuring. It meant she wasn't trying to hide from a man that could potentially arrest her. But her openness was also equally suspicious.

 _"Maybe you can help a girl out with that?"_

 _"Maybe I can."_ He smirked. He wasn't all too concerned about that, considering everything else. If she wasn't a threat, but instead a potential asset, he'd easily get her citizenship. _"Question is, can you help me?"_

He began to walk away, preparing to take Katherine to another room to continue the interrogation, with aid of the serum, but paused when he heard no footsteps following. _"Well, are you coming or not?"_

The young girl began to follow, as did his men from around the room. As they approached the door, he began to speak again. _"I, Miss Pierce—"_

" _Please, call me Katherine. Miss Pierce makes me sound so old."_ She interrupted. Sassy, he noted. She had a fiery personality. Somewhat entitled, too, but he could deal with that.

 _"Katherine."_ He rectified, knowing he wouldn't stick with it. _"I am the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. My name is Nick Fury, but everyone here addresses me as Director Fury."_

Once out the door, Fury began to lead Katherine, as well as his five men, through the hallways of the New York S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters where they were currently situated.

 _"And you're trusting me with this information why?"_

 _"Because, Katherine, you had every opportunity to kill me in that room if you wished to do so if you truly are enhanced in all the ways you said you are, yet you didn't. And since I believe myself to be a reasonable man, I've decided I can bring you somewhere slightly more comfortable to continue this assessment."_ She was a potential threat, so the less hostile the situation seemed the better. He had every intention of keeping both himself and his men alive, and he really didn't want to lose her, because she may just be of great benefit. _"And you may just be of use to us, Miss Pierce."_

 _"Wait."_ Katherine stopped in place, and Fury turned to face her. _"What do you mean 'of use', because I seriously don't want any experiments being done on me."_

Self-preservation. That seemed to be the most prominent personality trait. She almost sounded fearful at the prospect of experiments. Almost. But he had a hunch she wasn't exactly one to show fear—hell, she smiled with a gun pointed to her face.

That wasn't something you saw every day.

 _"No, not experiments." Nothing she didn't consent to, anyway. "I'm sure you've been subjected to enough of them to end up with all the abilities you have."_ He turned and continued to walk. _"How familiar are you with espionage, Miss Pierce?"_

 _"Are you asking me to be a spy, Director Fury?"_ She asked, and he didn't miss the intrigue in her voice. Definitely a potential candidate, he noted.

The Avengers Initiative had been scrapped, but she was perfect for it.

 _"Not quite, Miss Pierce. But, with the right training and making sure you aren't a threat, that may just become a possibility."_

Fury was very aware of the ever growing threats that faced earth and the humans from it, both from within it and _outside_ of it. What happened in New Mexico with Thor made him, as well as others, aware of just how hilariously outgunned they were, hence why the tesseract was being used to create an arsenal. Hence why _Phase 2_ was taking place, but Fury wasn't placing all his bets on it. He didn't particularly want to do it at all, but he realised it was a necessity, and he realised that he had to compromise with the council wherever he could—particularly due to the fact they weren't that overly fond of the idea of the Avengers.

The idea to bring together a group of remarkable people, to see if they could fight something more. And Katherine was appearing to be rather remarkable. He needed to run an assessment of sorts to see how truly fast or strong or capable she was, and maybe the people under him would scold him for being so hasty (especially due to the very obvious stark-like qualities she was showing) but he was too convinced to change his mind. If she revealed to be a threat, he'd deal with her as one. But, until then, he'd deal with her as if she was a potential new member of the team.

Soon enough, they reached the room which Fury intended to continue the interrogation in. It was comfortable, albeit a little small. It was usually used for small meetings, with padded chairs and all, and was hopefully an environment she'd be less hostile in. He prompted for the men to leave, but kept one outside of the door. Just in case.

"In order to continue our 'Q and A'," He began, imitating her usage of the words, "as you called it, I will need to inject you with something." He pulled out a relatively large looking needle from one of his trench coat pockets, and couldn't help but be amused at the way her face faltered. "QNB T-16. A truth serum, in other words. A friend of mine likes to describe it as a 'top-shelf martini of sodium-pentothal derivatives'. And, trust me, it works. However, it only lasts about an hour, so I have no idea how long it will last on you, so I hope you'll answer my questions quickly."

She nodded, seeming a little nervous, but that wasn't entirely unnatural. Anyone would be, particularly given the circumstances. Being forced to tell the truth was a scary thing.

He injected her, and she let out a sharp hiss, but the cut of it almost healed immediately as he pulled it out.

She wasn't lying. She really did have a regenerative healing factor.

"What is your real name, Miss Pierce?" He asked, beginning the interrogation once again.

"Katerina Petrova." She responded. She didn't lie, again.

"And where were you born?"

"Sofia, Bulgaria." Another truth.

"And _when_ were you born?"

"June 5th, 1989." The answer nearly sounded forced, but the truth serum had a tendency to do that.

"Do you have any siblings?"

"I did." She swallowed thickly. "A sister, but she—she was murdered."

There was a look of fear on her face as she admitted that, as if she never wanted to touch on the subject; as if she wasn't supposed to.

"And how was she—"

"The Mafia." She blurted out, a clear venom behind her voice. "The _Mutri_. I don't actually know what my parents did—they may have had ties to travellers, I'm not sure—but they definitely had something to do with the mafia. I don't know. It-it happened a two years before the car accident, if it even _was_ an accident…" She scoffed, her eyes becoming darker. "And I saw her murdered body. I saw her blood all over the wall. They killed her while I was at school, and my parents were out."

Fury cursed inwardly. As much as she was under a truth serum, and as much as she sounded as if she was telling the truth due to the sheer amount of emotion in her voice, the involvement of a mafia suddenly made it far harder for Fury to get his hands on any files—if there even were any available at all—and see whether her story checked out. Particularly with the Bulgarian mafia, who had been able to infiltrate their own government.

But everything did check out. Her sister would've been murdered in 2004 or 2005, which was during the government of National Movement Simeon II when assassinations became especially common in Bulgaria. It wasn't his area of expertise, but even S.H.I.E.L.D spent time tracking mafia activity, and even the European Union had publically acknowledged Bulgaria's incompetence at combatting organized crime.

"And are you enhanced?" He asked once more, leaving the clearly touchy subject behind.

"Yes."

"And in what ways are you enhanced?"

"Mind control, or, as I call it, compulsion. It's dependent on eye contact." And this was when Katherine began to look as if she truly didn't want to say the words coming out of her mouth; as if she was fighting against it. "I can make someone do whatever I want with it." Which intrigued Fury _greatly_. "I can run at… _inhuman_ speeds, and I have, quote-unquote, _inhuman_ strength. Nothing can kill me—I heal from pretty much everything. Everything _except_ a wound to my heart, or being decapitated, or fire, so shoot me in the head and I'll recover. Mind intact and all."

Fury watched as Katherine bit her lip, drawing blood, and dug her nails into the side of the chair, easily ripping its fabric. She was trying to fight the serum.

"Is that all, Miss Pierce?"

"Super senses." She choked out, letting out a hitched breath. Her previous confidence visibly waning. "Not just hearing. Sight. Smell. Taste. All that _jazz_." Katherine kissed her teeth, and Fury could very clearly see her exasperation. "And I'm…'durable', just as I can heal."

So, she had left some things out.

He leant in closer in his own seat as she began to squirm. "And how did you gain these abilities?"

"Like I said, I _died_ , and I woke up with them."

"In a car crash?"

" _Yes_."

Fury and she both lapsed into a silence, an awkward air filling the room. After a few moments of contemplating, he finally broke the insufferable lack of sound, much to Katherine's (apparent) relief.

"Alright, go home. Get some sleep. I'll be in touch with you tomorrow."

"Wait, that's it? We're done?" She asked.

"Yes. I'll be contacting you tomorrow to bring you in for an assessment of all your abilities, but until then you're free to go. One of my men will lead you to the front entrance and bring you home. I trust you'll keep the location of this S.H.I.E.L.D. base private. But, then again, based on your phone logs, you don't really have that many people to tell."

She let out a chuckle, and raised her eyebrows in a fashion as if to concede, and Fury gave a light smile in response. She was an interesting one, and his curiosity had definitely piqued.

* * *

 **Manhattan, New YorkMarch 3rd 2012**

Katherine couldn't sleep that night.

Not because she was stressed or worried, but purely due to the sheer amount of things that had occurred that day. Her mind couldn't rest for even a moment.

First of all, she had not only gotten into the one and only Tony Stark's party, but she had also interacted with him for a prolonged period of time and she was very much convinced she could seduce him with words alone (which only made her wonder what she could achieve with her body, and she was oh-so intrigued to try). And on top of that, even if as a result of her _abduction, s_ he had subsequently left her jacket behind, which meant she could go back to retrieve it (because she was _not_ about to leave a Gucci jacket behind!)

The fact the guy had managed to stick an injection in her neck revealed to Katherine that she wasn't as careful as she had been, and her senses were nowhere near as alert as they once were...which may or may not have prompted her in _finally_ indulging in her first feeding of blood since arriving here, but she desperately needed it. But the Voice really couldn't be too angry with her, since she didn't kill the guy, and she didn't even indulge in some _good_ blood. She chose some drunken idiot in a back alley, and the alcohol in his system had left a disgusting chemical aftertaste in her mouth, but she put up with it. Because she had to. It at least quenched her bloodlust for a moment, and her senses did feel ten times sharper as a result.

She wasn't going to desiccate without it, but she wasn't going to thrive either.

She also discovered that, while 'The Voice' _had_ indeed taken away the usual bloodshot sclera and red veins running down her face that she was used to while feeding, when she had managed to catch her reflection on a broken piece of a mirror on the ground, she saw that the Voice had instead decided to replace it with completely black eyes! Because looking like an _actual_ demon _wasn't_ creepy, apparently. Not at all.

God, it made her look like a traveller.

(Which she technically was, but that didn't mean she wanted to look like one.)

Even if the guy who drugged and abducted hershe refused to call what he did anything else other than thatwas a S.H.I.E.L.D agent, she still couldn't shake the 'off' feeling he gave her, or the rage his mere presence managed to evoke within her. Katherine liked to believe she was a good judge of character, and that she could read people easily, but she had never quite felt anything like what she had felt around him. It was inexplicable, really.

But she chose to ignore it. She supposed it was just due to her hunger, and how much she wanted to, well, drain all his blood from his body.

She supposed it worked for the better, though. The Voice must've been working in finally getting her to do the whole 'greater good' thing, since it happened that a secret extra-government agency had been keeping its tabs on her, and then _didn't_ choose to experiment on her after finding out about her (even if there was a lack of the word 'vampire', _thank God—Voice?)_ but instead was maybe giving her a position as a spy. Maybe. She wasn't entirely sure.

But it was promising.

The hardest part of it all was the truth serum, which she was, ultimately, able to resist, but only barely.

It was easier at first, but became harder as time went on, and there was a few moments she genuinely was forced to tell the truth. Such as when she admitted to having a sister who died, and then had to make up the whole 'mafia' thing. Luckily, she had always kept herself up to speed with politics in Bulgariasince she supposed she did feel _some_ sentiment toward her place of birthand had managed to pull together a convincing story that may or may not benefit her in covering up her semi-false origins, but Katherine would've much rather covered up the sibling thing altogether. It meant there were more elements to her story _—to her—_ that had to be explored, and that made it harder for everything to seem legit.

Worse comes to worst, she'd compel him. But hopefully it didn't come to that.

God, what had the voice _done to her?_

Since when did _she_ hesitate to compel someone?

Katherine couldn't sleep that night.

* * *

 **Unknown:** Be ready at 9AM. A S.H.I.E.L.D. agent with the name Coulson will be waiting outside your door to pick you up.

Katherine groaned at her phone, woken up by the anonymous and not-at-all-ominous text sent by S.H.I.E.L.D (because apparently 'SHIELD' wasn't good enough, the dots had to be there even when texting) that had somehow managed to bypass her 'Do Not Disturb' setting. Looking at the time, she lazily registered that her phone screen read 8:01AM, and that they had only given her an hour to be ready.

Great. Her morning was going _great_.

 _"Meow."_

"Oh, shut up, rat."

 _"Meeooww."_

"I am seriously not in the mood, Lucifer." Katherine sighed, getting out of bed to make her way to the shower. The cat, however, did not stop. "I cannot stand your incessant _mewling—oh my god_ did you just scratch me?"

Eyes now on the cat (demon), Lucifer sauntered over back to its bowl, and Katherine saw what the _big_ problem was. The cat's bowl was empty.

And the cat stared at her expectantly as if it had done _nothing wrong at all_.

"Why did I save you?" Katherine whined, throwing her arms up in defeat. " _Why?_ "

Quickly pouring Lucifer's food and filling up his water bowl (which was already full, but Lucifer always seemed to find a way to drive Katherine insane, so there was nothing wrong with being safe), Katherine proceeded to get ready in record time, allowing her hair to dry in its usual long curls and not wasting any time on putting a relatively practical, but still fashionable, outfit.

And—yes—a leather jacket with skinny black jeans and heeled boots _was_ Katherine's idea of practical.

At 8:59, she heard a knock on her door.

"You're early." She greeted. "Aren't you supposed to be creepily on time and knock exactly when the clock hits 9, because that's what I would do if I was a secret government agent, y'know." The man, Coulson, opened his mouth to speak, but Katherine quickly cut in. "Speaking of which, the agent you guys sent after me last night? Not the best. I was onto him the entire night, and he _totally_ gave himself away when I called him out for it."

"Really? I'm surprised. I consider Agent Ward to be one of my best."

"One of your best?" Katherine queried, walking alongside Coulson who, due to Katherine's extra added height from her heels, she happened to be taller than by an inch or so.

"Oh, did they not tell you? I'm Fury's second-in-command."

That was something that, admittedly, Katherine had not expected.

"Hm, so I was interrogated by the Director, and now I'm being escorted his second-in-command. Do I suspect some special treatment going on here, Agent Coulson?" Katherine bit her lip tentatively, a foxy smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"Think of it as a precaution, Miss Pierce."

Katherine almost felt as if she should've been hurt at his comment, but, of course, wasn't. Coulson, however misleading his outer appearance may have been, was _good_. Katherine couldn't read his actual emotion, despite the ever-present hint of a smile that lingered on his face. He was very well poised, too. Had a kind of 'Men in Black' vibe to him. Then again, she didn't suppose that was too far off his actual job description.

The drive to the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters only took about half an hour, given that it was located just outside of Hell's Kitchen, hidden in the plain site of the chaos of Time's Square, and she was living in Upper Manhattan. Upon arriving, Coulson led her to what seemed to be a training room (hall? Katherine wasn't sure) of sorts, that was separated from the room she currently stood in by a dark blue wall and two way mirror. Next to the door, there was a small control panel, a microphone and four screens, and Katherine couldn't help but feel as though she was about to become a part of a science experiment.

This was where her 'assessment' was about to take place.

"Miss Pierce." She turned around to face Fury, who was accompanied by a few others she had never seen before, one of which was a woman with short red hair. She was pretty, Katherine noted. _Very_ pretty. The kind you would never get in mystic falls. "I trust you're ready for your assessment?"

"As ready as I'll ever be, I guess. But I'm not entirely sure what's actually going to happen?"

He smiled a little, keeping his hands held behind him. "All will be explained. Just enter the room, and I'll speak to you through the intercom."

She nodded, a little unsure, but entered the room nonetheless. It was a bare, well-lit room that was about 100 metres long, and 50 metres wide.

 _"Okay, Miss Pierce,"_ She heard over the intercom, annoyed at the fact it lagged ever-so-slightly behind the sounds of his actual voice, but she guessed normal humans couldn't actually hear them speak. There were four speakers in each corner of the room, as well as four cameras beneath each. _"A punching bag is going to come down from the ceiling"—_ and, as if on cue, a panel from the ceiling moved to the side, and a punching bag was lowered in front of her _—"this will be used to measure the force of your punch, so to say. So, whenever you feel ready, feel free to punch the—"_

And so Katherine did.

And the punching bag broke off its chain, and flew to the other side of the room.

"Sir—"

"She—"

"I know." Fury interjected, and Katherine suppressed a smirk.

Fury pressed the button for the intercom once again, _"Katherine, do you realise that it took five punches for Captain America to break that thing and it only reached half the distance that yours just did?"_

"She has to work on her punching technique," Katherine heard vaguely from the redhead, "but her strength _is_ monstrous."

Katherine smiled coyly, biting on her thumb nail. "Oops?" She giggled, no hint of any real remorse in her voice or on her face.

The punching bag was quickly cleared from the room, and the next assessment was set into place: speed.

 _"Katherine, for this one, please only start when I say go, because we actually need to record it. This one is much simpler and...hopefully doesn't involve anything breaking. We simply are going to record how long it takes you to sprint from one end of a room to another and back again, so set yourself up against either wall, and you only run when I say go."_

Katherine stood casually against the wall, not entering any kind of starting position, and she was sure she heard Fury sigh.

 _"On your marks."_ She remained still. _"Get set."_ She remained still again.

 _"Katherine! I said 'Get set'!"_

Katherine huffed, but entered a lazy running position.

 _"Go."_

And so she did.

"Did she just..."

"She definitely just did."

"Sir, that was only 0.3 seconds. How did she—"

"She's—"

 _"Super."_

She heard them replaying the footage, and replaying it again, and then slowing it down, and replaying it again.

Fury and Coulson both entered the room, each of them wearing absolute looks of shock on their face.

"What?" She asked innocently, shrugging her shoulders. "I told you I'm enhanced."

* * *

 **The first part of this chapter has a lot of text in italics, which is because it's quoted from the last chapter, since I'm showing it from Fury's perspective. I'm sorry if that wasn't clear!**

 **No one actually knows if the truth serum is actually a pseudo-drug or not, but for the sake of my story, it actually works (well, not quite on Katherine). It's yet another reference to AoS though, which anyone who watches it may have caught onto.**

 **I feel like I'm trying to channel a lot of Katherine's 1800s vibe into this, but I don't know how well I'm doing with that. I also don't know how I've managed to release three chapters three days in a row, but maybe I should focus on revising on my upcoming GCSEs instead? I've just never had such ease writing before, and it's so tempting.**

 **Anyway, as always, leave me your thoughts!**


	4. IV

_"We manipulate, we thirst for power, we control, we punish, but our actions are driven by one singular place deep inside: We're alone…and we hate it." — Katherine Pierce_

* * *

 **Manhattan, New York  
** **May 2nd 2012**

Two months had passed since Katherine's training at S.H.I.E.L.D began. She had yet to be instated as an official agent or anything—apparently there was a whole lot of protocol for that—but she had been training with them nonetheless.

From what she could tell, they were still very much the 'good guys', and apparently the Voice thought that too, since she was still a healthy and not aging-or-burning-in-the-sun vampire. But she found that the feeling that she got around Ward wasn't only limited to him. There were other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who evoked the exact the same anger and _annoyance_ as he had, but Katherine couldn't figure out what exactly it was about them. She couldn't figure out what made them any different to anybody else, so she deduced it to hunger, again, but there was no actual logical explanation other than that. And Katherine hated when she couldn't put her gut feeling to anything.

It was even more frustrating that one of her instructors, Rumlow, was one of those who gave her that feeling. He had a good sense of humour, she'd give him that, but the feeling of sheer irritation he gave her made things considerably tenser between them. Even if Katherine gave a good front that nothing was up, she was always on edge with him, even if he _was_ the one who taught her to shoot a gun exceptionally well. She still didn't like the things, but apparently it was a necessary skill to learn. But it certainly was not her first weapon of choice. At all.

She found that, apparently, she was scarily good with a pair of nunchuks. Katherine had never been the combat type—it was just an inherent trait of being a vampire—but she had developed a newfound adoration for the weapon. How she used them wasn't exactly, as one may describe, 'orthodox', but she liked to use the weighted ends to swing it round her opponent's neck and use the extended chain to choke them. Which did once or twice scare her instructors when it came to her sparring partners, but she had yet to kill anyone. _Yet_.

She was also pretty damn good when it came to throwing things. Knives, specifically. Again, this was a common trait of being a vampire, but seemed like an _exceptional_ skill among humans.

Katherine found that there was an inexplicably liberating feeling in knowing she didn't have to hide her 'vampire powers' from humans. At least, not around the S.H.I.E.L.D. compound. She never cared too much about humans finding out in her past life, anyway—technology was too behind for them to do anything about it for a majority of her existence, and she could also compel (or kill) any that did find out. But, regardless of that, here...she wasn't feared for the thing that separated her from the rest of humanity, or seen as a freak (for too long, anyway) but was, instead, revered. For something _other_ than her amazing looks, and her amazing ability to evade Klaus for 500 years.

Because this world was different to hers. It was no longer a world of vampires, or witches, or werewolves, or originals, or hunters, or doppelgängers. It was a world of humans.

And, as Fury had explained to her, it was a universe of _more_. Because it wasn't just their world any longer. It was aliens and everything that had once still been 'mystical' and far-fetched in her world. It was technology and science like never before, and she...she was a _mythical creature_ stuck in it all. Not a girl stuck in, what should've been, a mythical world. Because, by this world's standard, her world would've very much been 'mythical'.

And Katherine felt as if she was turning into another person.

As if, slowly, she was becoming Katerina Petrova again. As if she was becoming human, rather than a vampire driven by self-preservation and selfishness.

And that was absolutely terrifying to Katherine, so she decided to distract herself with training instead. And perhaps stayed for a few hours too many on more than one occasion.

"You were good today, Katherine." Rumlow said, sweat dripping down his body and face from being Katherine's sparring partner (which she took many liberties with). Of course, being a vampire, her body remained sweat free, and the only thing that gave any sign that she had been sparring was the slight dishevelment of her hair and smudge of her eye makeup. But, as always, she looked pretty much flawless.

Fury's instruction was that she had to use as little of her 'superhuman strength', as he described it, so that she could develop a fighting technique before anything else, and then learn how to integrate her strength, but Katherine was pretty sure it was just so the other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents had a bit more of a fair fight.

Katherine raised her eyebrows, turning to face Rumlow as she rose from her training mat. "Am I not always good?" Rumlow let out a short laugh, and wiped away some of the sweat that pooled on his forehead.

"I suppose you are. But, hey, I think you're letting your guard down a little." He pointed to her hair, "Your hair's all messy. Clearly, I managed to scruff you up a little bit." Katherine merely gave a wry smile in response, and began to untangle her curls.

As Rumlow began to walk away, Katherine finally called out to the person who had been hiding around the corner for the entirety of the conversation. "Alright, you can come out now Sharon."

Sharon Carter (who refused to say her last name, so Katherine compelled it out of her) peeped her head round the corner, entering the sparring room, a clear amount of haste in her step. "Is there something going on between you and Rumlow?"

Katherine eyed the woman as if she had grown two heads. "Are you serious?" Katherine asked, no hint of amusement in her voice. "No. Never."

"Really?" The blonde smirked. "I mean, he has a tendency to be cocky, but with you it's like…"

"He's trying to get in my underwear?" Katherine interjected. "Yeah, not the first, and definitely not the last." She smiled sarcastically, an almost proud undertone to her voice. Sharon let out a chuckle, once again amused by the confidence (vanity) of Katherine.

Sharon was the closest thing Katherine had to an actual 'friend' in this world so far. She was hardly open enough to have a true friend in her previous life, the closest thing coming to it being people like Isobel, but in the end even people like she were just pawns and temporary allies to Katherine; they were disposable, and were only good at either helping her hide from Klaus or provide some entertainment in the long 500 years of her life. But here, she found, the insufferable kind blonde had been trying relentlessly to worm her way into Katherine's heart. Katherine told herself she was just an ally—a colleague, of sorts, that would help her survive in this world. But, even the Petrova doppelganger wasn't sure she believed that at times.

Like now, when Sharon brought up a topic like a guy potentially having a 'crush' on Katherine, which was completely innocent and didn't involve any vampire drama or mystic fall teens and almost made Katherine want to smile. Almost. Because she was interested in her because she was Katherine.

Not the notorious five-hundred-year old infamous vampire and doppelganger Katherine, but just Katherine.

The conversation (and moment of deep reflection) was, however, ruined by a Katherine's phone going off in her pocket. Katherine looked at her phone curiously, confused by the text Coulson had just sent.

 **Coulson:** Stark Tower. Now.

"I have to go." And, ignoring Sharon's questions, Katherine began to run off, using her vampire speed once out of Sharon's sight.

First of all, she didn't even recall ever having Coulson's number saved—so she hoped for the other person's sake that this actually was Coulson and not some kind of a trap, because she would unapologetically kill anyone involved—and, second, why the hell did he want her at _Stark Tower?_

Sure, she had been there for the party (which S.H.I.E.L.D. stole her from) and had returned back a week or so later to pick up her jacket (which had sadly been given to her by a random worker, not Stark himself), but she couldn't figure out just why on earth Coulson wanted her there.

And, weirdly enough, the bottom floor was entirely empty.

 **Katherine:** I'm here.

 **Coulson:** 81st floor.

Entering the elevator of the oddly bare ground floor, Katherine travelled up to the 81st floor of Stark Tower, and was greeted by Coulson, Tony Stark, and his strawberry blonde partner, Pepper Potts.

"Another security breach!" Stark called out, standing over at his desk, before doing a double take in Katherine's direction. "Who—is that—are you the girl that left her jacket here? Katherine, was it?"

"That's what I'm remembered for? Ouch." Katherine teased. "And I thought I left a good first impression."

"Left her jacket? What do you mean?" Pepper asked, bewildered.

"She's with me." Coulson reassured, turning back to Katherine and handing her a black case of files. "Oh, you're still in your training gear. That's a good look, it suits you."— Katherine ignored Tony's outward musings of whether or not she was a S.H.I.E.L.D agent—"You need to look over these as soon as possible. But," He turned back in the direction of Pepper and Tony, the latter of which eyes were remaining curiously on Katherine, "in the meantime, we need to return to the topic at hand. The Avengers Initiative."

"Yeah, what is all this?" Pepper asked, looking down to the tablet Coulson had just handed Tony.

"This is…" Tony swiped the tablet screen up, bringing up four separate screens. "This."

Katherine gaped, staring at each of the holographic screens. The one furthest to the right displayed images and information on Thor, the hammer wielding demi-god who just happened to produce lightning at will. Apparently he was a pretty hot buzz topic at S.H.I.E.L.D. (as well as a bit of a crush for many of the female—and a few male—agents). The next screen did the same, only for Captain America, whom she had found out was no longer dead, but had been buried in ice for the last 70 years. (Which Katherine may or may not have been happy about, but she wasn't about to admit that out loud.) And then there was the next screen after that, which displayed the one and only experiment gone wrong; the hulk. And then the last one…

The last one, which was of _her_.

It was videos and pictures and information of _her_. Of Katherine, running at inhuman speeds. Of Katherine, punching down walls, as well as the punching bag of her assessment. Of Katherine, training with her nunchuks and guns and knives and spears. It was a section, completely dedicated to _Katherine_.

Katherine was too shocked to even remotely listen to the hushed tone conversation Pepper and Tony were having. She knew they had been recording each of her sessions, but she was meant to stay a secret. Her abilities were only meant to be known by the higher-ups of S.H.I.E.L.D. and her trainers, until there came a time it was absolutely necessary that they be revealed. And, Fury told her, that was only when…

That was only when they'd be absolutely needed.

When _she_ was absolutely needed.

"That…" Tony began loudly, catching her attention. "This—this is you." He pointed toward her, looking back frantically between the screen and her. "The girl who was a plus one at my party? _This_ is you?" He asked in disbelief.

Katherine ignored him, and instead turned to Coulson. "Coulson, what on earth is happening? Those are top-secret files and I swear to _God_ —"

"You're needed." He interrupted.

" _She's_ a part of the Avengers Initiative?"

"The _what_?" Katherine questioned, completely perplexed, feeling completely and utterly out of loop.

"Katherine. Go back to your apartment, pack a light bag of necessities—we have your uniform already—and be ready for me to pick you up in the morning. I'll explain everything to you in more detail tomorrow, but all the information you need is in the case I gave you." Coulson explained, patting lightly on the black case he handed her, appearing unnervingly calm. Katherine, aware of protocol, simply sighed and walked back into the elevator, trying to prepare herself for whatever wacky ass situation she was about to get into.

Sometimes she wished the Voice had just let her die. She was here for the 'greater good', yet nobody told her what the hell was going on.

And it was yet another sleepless night, because she had spent the entire time reading over _damn_ files. Of every 'Avenger', including herself, and of the actual 'Avenger Initiative'. Which was, in short, a plan to bring together a whole bunch of freaks should there be an unimaginable extraterrestrial threat.

Which was exactly what there was.

Damn the greater good.

* * *

 **May 3rd 2012**

Leaving an extra-large bowl of food out for Lucifer (because Katherine was aware of the hell the cat would give her if she let it starve) as well as a key for her neighbour to go and feed the demon should she be gone any longer than a day, Katherine left for the location Coulson was set to pick her up from to fly out to a random S.H.I.E.L.D. base in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

Upon arriving at the outskirts of the city though and quickly boarding the jet they were flying in, she was not only met by Coulson, but also the one and only Steve Rogers. _The_ Captain America.

And the 40s influence on his clothing was glaringly obvious to the Petrova.

And, quite frankly, she found it kind of adorable.

But, to say the least, she was still a little breathless in his presence nonetheless.

"You're Katherine, right?" He greeted, leaning over from his seat. "You were in the files. Super-strength, super-healing, super-speed?"

"Yep," She choked out. "That's me."

"Steve rogers." He extended his hand forward, and she took it in hers to shake.

"Oh, I know who you are, Captain. Don't worry." She assured, pulling her hand away, not helping but noting how her hand seemed tiny compared to his. He smiled sheepishly, ducking his head a little. (And, no, Katherine's cheeks didn't go red, because that was physically impossible for a vampire…right?)

"I'm glad you're acquainted. You'll need to be." Coulson spoke as the jet began to raise from the ground and fly, leaving New York. "This isn't a threat we can be taking on alone."

Steve nodded in military-esque fashion, and Katherine stayed silent, mentally cursing out the Voice. (And maybe perhaps ogling at Steve—but, in her defence, he was gorgeous to look at!)

"We're about 40 minutes out from home base, Sir." One of the pilot's spoke, prompting Coulson to raise from his miniature desk.

"So, this Doctor Banner," Steve began, looking at his files once more, "was trying to replicate the serum used on me?"

"A lot of people were." Coulson paused. "You were the world's first superhero. Banner thought gamma radiation might hold the key to unlocking Erskine's original formula."

"Didn't really go his way, did it?"

"Not so much. When he's not that thing, though, guy's like a Stephen Hawking." And Steve looked up to Coulson, a look of cluelessness on his face. "He's like a smart person."

"Einstein." Katherine corrected, catching the attention of both the men. She couldn't feel a help but feel a surge of satisfaction when Steve's face lit up with recognition, or the smirk that appeared on her own as a result. "You know, Coulson, a physicist that was actually famous both during and before the forties?"

"That might've been a better example." Coulson admitted, and Steve attempted to stifle his chuckle. Sending her an appreciative and equally amused glance, Katherine returned a coquettish smile, causing Steve to falter for just a moment.

 _Oh,_ Katherine thought deviously, _this is going to be fun._

"Do you think that's what they tried to do when they experimented on me? Replicate the serum used on Captain America?" Katherine pretended, trying to keep up the facade that she was the result of an experiment. Fury wasn't any closer in getting up any files on her whatsoever, and she had now been given the nickname 'Ghost' as a result, and she needed to keep people at S.H.I.E.L.D. believing that was her true origins.

"I hope not, because that means they would've been successful, and there could be a bunch of people running about with your skill set that we don't know about. And," he turned to face Steve once more, "I gotta say, it's an honor to meet you officially. I've sort of met you, I mean, I watched you while you were sleeping. I mean, I was present, while you were unconscious from the ice. You know, it's really just a huge honor to have you on board."

 _You're just digging yourself a bigger hole here, Coulson._

"Well, I hope I'm the man for the job."

"Oh, you are. Absolutely."

"And what about me?" Katherine questioned. "I get I'm enhanced and all, but I don't exactly get what I'm meant to do."

"You're a part of the Avenger Initiative, Katherine. That's why Fury wanted you to join so badly—so you could be a part of this, should the time come."

Katherine thought back to the words of the Voice. _"This will not be a selfish existence, Katerina Petrova. There is a greater good to fight for in this universe, one which you'll figure out on your own, and that is what you'll fight for. You can have all these benefits, Katerina, but under the condition you live this life for others—not just yourself."_ She didn't have a damn choice in the matter whether or not she was suitable for this, because she had to do it no matter what.

How troublesome.

"We made some modifications to the uniform." Katherine heard. "I had a little design input."

"The uniform? Aren't the stars and the stripes a little…" Steve paused, looking as though he was considering his next words carefully, " _old-fashioned_?"

"With everything that's happening, and the things that are about to come to light, people might just need a little old-fashioned."

The rest of the trip was spent in silence for the most part. There was a lot Katherine wanted to ask Steve, and equally Coulson, but she was too lost in thought. She didn't know who she was anymore. She hadn't been acting as her usual 'cold' self. She hadn't been putting on a facade of a heartless bitch—okay, _debatable_ facade—and she felt as if, after five months, that persona was fading.

Having an existential crisis at 500 years old wasn't fun, Katherine decided. Especially not after being suicidal and _dying_ only half a year prior.

Upon landing, she and Steve were greeted by the same redhead that had been present at her initial assessment at S.H.I.E.L.D. but that she had never seen since.

"Agent Romanoff," Coulson began, "Captain Rogers and Katherine Pierce."

"They need you on the bridge." She said to Coulson. "They're starting the face-trace."

"See you there." He returned, and quickly paced away, managing to still uphold his usual professional disposition despite the circumstances. Agent Romanoff's hair was shorter than Katherine remembered—but still equally as red—and the green in her eyes was slightly more prominent in the sun rather than the artificial lighting of the S.H.I.E.L.D. base.

"There was quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice. I thought Coulson was gonna swoon. And you," she eyed Katherine, "I don't think anyone around S.H.I.E.L.D. has stopped talking about you. I must say, your assessment was very impressive." Steve's eyes fell on Katherine, a surprised yet amused expression on his face, to which she waggled her eyebrows, a smug smile tugging at her lips.

"Has he asked you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?"

"Trading Cards?" Steve asked, clearly amused.

Katherine let out a snicker. "God, why am I not surprised?"

"They're vintage. He's very proud of them."

And then the man who turned into the terrifying green monster came into view, looking positively lost, and Katherine couldn't help but tense. "Doctor Banner!" Rogers called out.

"Oh, yeah, hi. They told me you'd be coming." Banner—the hulk—spoke, shaking Steve's hand, but Katherine remained frozen in place standing next to Natasha. As far as she was aware, there was only one person on this earth capable of killing her in the non-orthodox 'vampire killing' ways, and that was that man right there.

The one who broke Harlem.

Just as she had been scared of Klaus, she was absolutely terrified of Banner. The only difference now being that this one didn't hold a personal grudge against her for half a millennia.

"Word is, you can find the cube."

"Is that the only word on me?" Banner replied hesitantly. _No_ , Katherine thought.

"Only word I care about." Steve responded. It was, however, definitely _not_ the only word that Katherine cared about. She very much cared about all the other stuff.

"It must be strange for you," Banner motioned to all the commotion going on around them, "all of this."

"Well, this is actually kind of familiar."

"Everyone," Agent Romanoff began, interrupting their conversation, "you might want to step inside in a minute. It's going to get a little hard to breathe."

"Is this a submarine?" Steve asked, amazed, as large propellers began to rise on the side of the 'ship', which is what Katherine had thought it to be.

"Really? They want _me_ in a submerged, pressurized, metal container?"

Yep, Katherine definitely hated the Voice.

"What is this really?" Katherine asked Romanoff, Banner and Rogers instead going to the edge to see what was happening. And then, as if on cue, the 'ship' began to _lift_. Out of the water.

"Well, it certainly isn't a submarine, to answer your question."

Oh, so she was going to be 30,000 feet over the ground with Banner instead. Because that was so much better.

The inside only managed to amaze Katherine more, once again proving this world had technology in science far beyond hers, yet only in such covert ways, such as the Helicarrier not only looking like something out of a sci-fi show, but also having literal reflection panels so that they could 'disappear' once in the air.

The only thing that made the whole situation evermore confusing was Steve Rogers, for some reason, handing Fury a ten dollar bill.

The redhead, who was quite a few inches shorter than Katherine, especially given the fact Katherine was in heels, walked up next to the Petrova. "You seem…"

"Shocked." Katherine answered for Romanoff, who had been keeping a watchful eye on her the entire time. "I've seen many things in my lifetime, but this, this is something else entirely."

"Yeah, it is impressive." Natasha agreed, a light smile appearing on her face.

Intrigued, Katherine asked, "So, Agent Romanoff, what's your first name?"

The redhead hesitated for a moment. "Natasha, why?"

"So, Natalia Romanova. That's your real name?" Katherine asked, a devilish glint in her eyes. While compulsion was fun, she found it much more fun to get the information the classic way.

"How did you—"

"Oh, don't play with me, Natasha." Katherine's teased in a hushed tone, eyes narrowing ever so slightly. "That's not an English name. You're not the only one, you know—but I'm sure you already know that, considering the fact you were one of the ones looking over my assessment. I'd be surprised if Fury didn't tell you my true origins."

"He didn't, actually." Natasha replied, keeping a poker face expression.

"Oh, that's surprising. Well, my real name is Katerina Petrova, not Katherine pierce." Katherine leant against the table behind her, "Just as yours is Natalia Romanova, _not_ Natasha Romanoff."

"You're Russian?" She questioned, and Katherine didn't miss the ever so slight hint of fear in her voice. It was the type that would've gone unnoticed to an untrained ear, and it was the type that gave anyone looking for it an absolute thrill. Because, Natasha Romanoff was hailed as the ever elusive Black Widow, yet Katherine had managed to evoke fear in her.

Yet, it wasn't as fun as she thought it was going to be.

"Bulgarian, actually." Katherine let out a light-hearted laugh, dropping her classic evil Katherine Pierce-esque persona, which she found hardly any enjoyment with in that moment. "I was just messing with you. I really just wanted to find out if you were the Black Widow or not." She lied. "I've heard a lot about you." And, at that, the redhead's shoulders visibly relaxed, any nerves or tension slipping away. Even if not as fun as Katherine thought playing with her was going to be, she couldn't deny the feeling of satisfaction she got knowing she was just as able to get under a person's skin with only a few words.

"Agent Romanoff." Fury interrupted. "Would you show Doctor Banner to his laboratory?"

Natasha nodded, quickly leaving with Banner, and Fury came to stand next to Katherine. "You know," he started, "I didn't bring you here so you could try and get into the heads of some of my finest agents. Our enemy is already doing that."

"Oh, but you know how good I am at it." Katherine retorted, recalling the interrogation she did a month or so ago. Fury had wanted her to show her 'mind control' abilities on a person who was a part of a group that had attempted to steal materials from a S.H.I.E.L.D. warehouse, but she instead showed her amazing ability to get information out of people without compulsion (because, when people wore and drank vervain, that was a necessary skill for a vampire to have). The whole process may or may not have involved many fingers being broken, a dislocated wrist, and a few too many personal jabs and insults (because Katherine Pierce was amazing at pointing out a person's insecurities) but she had got the job done. In the end, Fury still made her do her compulsion to make sure the information she had got out of him was correct—and, surprise surprise, it _was_ —and also because he simply wanted to see her do it. He said the compulsion was more effective, she said the latter method was less fun.

"That you are." He smiled briefly, before his face dropped once more. "You know what we're dealing with, right?"

"Um, evil alien from outer space that looks like a human? Brother of the guy that has a hammer and can summon lightning at will?" Katherine's mouth curled into a wry smile.

"Not just an 'evil alien', Katherine." And Katherine grimaced, knowing that Fury only addressed her as 'Katherine' when he was being serious. "Gods. These are 'aliens' that come from legend. They aren't human, and they sure as hell aren't weak. He has his hands on the tesseract, as well as a very powerful sceptre that has compromised some of my best men. I called you in because I believe you can handle this, Agent Pierce. You're—"

"Wait." She cut in. "Agent? I'm not technically officially a part of S.H.I.E.L.D. yet."

"We currently don't have time for official protocol, Agent Pierce. I'll instate you as an actual agent when and if this whole thing blows over, but I always intended for you to become an one anyway. Now, let me finish, and for god sake do _not_ interrupt me!" His voice raised a little. "I put you on the avenger's initiative due to your, for lack of a better word, _unique_ skill set. Due to your abilities. It would be a waste not to have you be a part of this team. It would be undermining your true potential."

But, before she could respond, an alarm sounded, and another person spoke. "We got a hit! 67 percent match. Wait. Cross match, 79 percent."

"Location?" Coulson asked, leaving his conversation with Captain America.

"Stuttgart, Germany. 28 Konigstrasse. He's not exactly hiding."

"Captain. Pierce. You're up."

"Oh, and Katherine." Coulson called over. "Your uniform is in your room."

"My uniform?" She asked, unsure, since there had been absolutely no discussion of her getting a specific uniform.

"Trust me," he smiled his trademark Coulson smile, "you'll love it."

And, admittedly, Katherine _did_ love it. The top half was simple—a plain black tactical top in a full-sleeve turtleneck style—but the bottom half was what did most of the work. She wasn't exactly sure what material it was made out of, but it very much looked like it was the same as what Natasha wore. Except, as opposed to Natasha's cat suit, the material only reached her waist. On her waistline there was a belt, but it was the utility belt that sat on her hips that served the most purpose, as both her nunchuks and pockets of ammo were placed there. And, on her right thigh was a gun holster.

Her favourite part of the outfit, however, was the heeled boots. It seemed she had won the debate with Fury about whether they were 'practical' enough, and they had given her a pair. Of course, they weren't stilettos, but instead heeled combat boots that almost looked as if they were a part of her trousers. And, the heel was narrow enough for her liking—not the ugly chunky kind—and Katherine could not thank Coulson enough for being on her side of the argument.

Attire on, she quickly ran to the quinjet—after having looked at herself in the mirror for just a tad too long—and met Natasha and Steve. The latter of which was in his star-spangled suit, and had his shield at the ready.

"So," Natasha began, "here's the plan."

And both Katherine and Steve's jaws set.

* * *

 **Wow, every chapter is having some major character interactions so far.**

 **Okay, it's probably not clear, but Katherine's current outfit is meant to look like Black Widow's Iron Man 2 outfit, except black and not actually a catsuit. So, from the waist down, it look pretty much the same, but the top half is a turtle-neck top (and not the super long kind) and with different shoes. You guys are welcome to give me design ideas for her next outfit, since I'm unimaginative apparently. I want it to be something like Black Widow's yet still unique to Katherine, but at the same time I don't want it to be overwhelmingly different to what she's wearing for the events of Avengers Assemble.**

 **Also, I thought nunchuks was a good mix up of weapons...but I'm imagining them with a very long chain. If that's actually a thing, I have no idea, but I don't care particularly.**

 **As always, leave me your thoughts. Constructive criticism is also very welcome and encouraged!**

 **Although, keep in mind that this fanfic isn't meant to be overly serious, just more a bit of fun.**


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